Method and means for laying concrete floorings



Aug. 20, 1929. s. H. cALKlNs METHOD AND MEANS FOR LAYING CONCRETE FLOORINGS Filed May 19. 1927 nml" fr Y "'W'W'f I l .SEHARD )56mm ELK/Ns ATTORNEY foundation a Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED5 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

snwann nom cALxINs, or rLusHING, NEW Yoan, assrGNon rro THE marrant y MARBLE COMPANY, a CORPORATION or NEW Yoan.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR LAYING CONCRETE FLOORINGB.

Application tiled Iay 19,

This invention relates to floorings having a top layer composed princi ally of cement.

Cement iioorin s, so calle are constructed of a concrete ll o r foundation composed of cinders or other coarse material mixed -with sand, and a relatively small percentage of cement and on that concrete fill or finishing coat is applied, consisting of a relatively large percentage of cement, mixed with sand.'

Heretofore it has been the general custom to spread the material forming the concrete ll and finishing coat in continuous'la ers, with the result that objectionable crac ng takes place in the mass due to the shrinkage thereof. f

To overcome the disadvantages of such construction it has been the usual practice to divide the finishing layer of the iiooring into sections so that one or more sections may be cut out and replaced without injury. to the adjacent sections.

Such. practices'produce other and new disadvantages. v

When the upper layer or-finishing coat is so cut through to the under layer or concrete fill, o en joints are produced by such cutting an the marginal edges of therespective sections become exposed to the atmosphere and cons uently become dried out and shrink before t e material forming the main bod of the sections has become hardened, an objectionable cracks form on the margins of the sections due to that unequal contraction of the material forming the sections. 4

Furthermore, the drying out and shrinkage of opposite marginal edges of adjacent f sections enlarge the width of the cuttings originally ma e to divide the finishing layer into sections.

It has been found moreover that the only practical way of finishing the exposed edges of such cutting is' to make the cutting in the form of a groove, V-shaped in cross section.

Such grooves and open joints form receptacles for dirt and unsanitary matter of various kinds and also present an unsightly ap-I pearance frequentlyv attended with bumps and irregular edgesformed on4 the face of the upper surface of the nishing coat of the flooring, at the grooves. I

This invention has for one of its main objects to provide a method and means for oonstructing cement ioorings having many, and

1927. serial' No. 192,741. v

if so desired, all, of the important features of a terrazzo iiooring, at a cost of. production and maintenance much lower than that of terrazzo, and in which the open joints between the sections of a cement flooring and their many. and serious disadvantages yare eliminated, and a flooring heretofore used mainly for warehouses, and the roughest kind of use, may be superseded by a concrete 'iiooring vsuitable for use in the highest class of public buildings, apartment houses, hotels, oioe buildlngs, stores, banks, and others of like importance. The invention is designed primarily for use in concrete loorings. in which the sections are of the same color,

hereinafter referred to are accomplished in the manner and b more particularly escribed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference numerals designate correvThese and other objects .ofthe invention.70

the means hereinafter sponding parts throughout the several views, Q

igure 2 is a cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a cross section of a cement iloorin showin in side elevation a dividing strip o modifie construction used for carryi'n out the invention. l

igure 4 is a perspective view.

In carrying out the invention a vided, and may consist of a vmaterial ordinarily used for such purposes, such as eine i foundatlon, sometimes called aconcrete fill, 1s proders, broken stone, and sand, mixed with l cement.

The material vforming theconcrete fill or foundation after being thoroughly mixed and wet, is laid while ina semiplastic condition' in -a continuous layer, and leveled off by any suitable means to form a substantially even surface. l v v As illustrated in the drawings 1 represents the concrete fill or foundation, and 2 a concrete finishing coat.

The finishing coat is composed as usual of the desired proportions ofcement and,

sand, thoroughly mixed, and while in a plast-ic condition is laid in a continuous sheet on top of the concrete fill or foundation while the concrete fill is in a condition sufficiently moist to make a proper adhering connection with the material forming the finishing coat and sufficiently moist or plastic to permit a dividing strip to be pressed through the finishing coat and into said concrete fill or foundation.

After the finishing coat has been laid and while the material thereof is in a plastic condition the surface of that coat is trowelled to compress the material and remove the excess of water contained therein.

The upper surface is marked off by means of lines, straight-edge, pointing trowel or other suitable means to define the pattern .or divisions to be made in the flooring.

Dividing strips such as shown in the drawings, or other suitable construction, are then depressed into the finishing coat, and through said coat, into the concrete fill on the lines so marked, until the top edge of the strips is in substantial alignment with the surface of the top coat.

. The strips'may be pressed in to the finishany suitable means, such as shown and described in Letters Patent numbered 1,511,799, issued to me October 14, 1924, having a groove or kerf to receive the upper edge of the strip, and adjacent fianges adapted to compress the material of the top coat underneath said flanges and force said materialy into the openings 4 of the strip.

The dividing strip 3 shown in Figure 1 herein consists of a flat strip having sides provided with openings 4, between the upper and lower margins of the strip, and the lower margin is provided with anchors 5 preferably connected with an intermediate marginal extension 6 of the body of the strip.

When the strip is depressed into the finishing coat and the concrete fill or foundation. of the fiooring in the manner stated,

with the upper edge of the strip in the' hori' zontal plane of the upper surface of the finishing coat, the anchors 5' and extensions G of' the strip will be embedded in the concrete fill, and the inclined edges 7 with Y which the anchors are provided will aid in resisting any upward displacement of the strip.

The openings 4 of the strip will be within the top dr finishiner coat of the flooring, and the cement .of which that coat is composed will extend through the openings 4, which form locks that serve as the main means for holding the strip in place against vertical displacement, at the same time locking adjacent sections of the finishing coat together.

After the strips have been driven into the finishing coat and underbed, the upper suring or-top coat and into the underbed by face of the finishing coat is given another trowelling, compressing and leveling off the upper surface, and making a close even connection between the material of the finishing coat and the upper edge of the strips, thereby producing a continuous upper surface unbroken by any scorings or depressions, and displaying the upper edgesof said strips, and forming designs or patterns of pleasing and ornamental appearance.

It sometimes happens that the foundation or concrete fill of a flooring is completed and becomes thoroughly dried and hardened before the finishing coat is ready to be applied, consequently the anchors of the pattern strips can not penetrate the hard concretev Ell. In such cases a pattern strip may be used of the character described, Without the enetrating anchors 5, as indicated by the 'viding strip shown in Figure 3, wherein the lower edge of the strip is supported and rests upon the underbed, and the inclined edges 7 of' the marginal extension 6 engage the material forming the finishing coat and aid in preventing any upward displacement of the strip.

lVhat I claim as new is:

1. The method of laying concrete floorings, consisting in providing a foundation of relatively coarse material in a semi-plastic condition, and applying upon said Semiplastic foundation, a top layer composed principally of cement in a plastic condition,

then trowelling the top layer to compress the;

for preventing any upward displacement of' said strips, and finally subjecting the surface of said top layer to a finishing trowelling.

2. The method of laying concrete floorings, consisting in providing a foundation of relatively coarse material in a semi-plastic condition and applying upon said semiplastic foundation a top layer composed principally of`cement in a plastic condition, then trowelling the top layer to compress the material thereof, and remove the excess of water therefrom, then pressing into the top layer and foundation dividing strips having anchors extending below the body of said strips and into the foundation material, and finally subjecting the surface'of said top layer toa finishing trowelling.

3. The method of laying concrete fioorings, consisting in providing a foundation of relatively .coarse material 1n a semi-plastic iodo permit the material of the top layer to enter, and when hardened join adjacent sections of the top layer together, and finally subjeet- 10 ing the surface of said top layer to a finishing trowelling.

SEWARD HOMER CALKINS. 

